Seven winters had come and gone since that day, and life carried in as it always did, with ponies living and going about their days as if nothing had ever happened. And so it was that another Hearth's Warming Eve approached within the great metropolis of Manehattan. Night had crept over the sky long ago, and snow had begun it's yearly fall, blanketing much of the city in a thick white coat. Throughout this place, mares, stallions and foals all busied themselves with preparations for the coming holiday, and the whole place was abuzz with excitement and joy. That is, save for one place. For on the outskirts of the city was a small and relatively run-down business office, which had the distinct look of having seldom been updated with new licks of paint or anything that would give it an appealing appearance. Atop the front door were inscribed the words "S & S Moneylenders", although those words too had faded with the passing of years.

Within this shabby-looking place was more-or-less a single room, divided by low wooden walls, sectioning off three separate areas. The first was the "welcome" area, where customers would presumably enter. The second was a very small office, no bigger than a prison cell, inside which was a middle-aged earth pony stallion, sitting at his desk and working. And finally there was a larger, though no better furnished office, owned by none other than Mr Scrounger, to whom the passing of these last seven years had not been kind. His face bore of look of near-constant disdain and his eyes focused only on the many rolls of parchment before him, all of which held many confusing-looking numbers. All in all, this was not a happy place, especially at this time of year.

What made it all the worse was the cold. With only a few lit candles here and there, there was barely enough heat to even be noticed, and a visitor might be forgiven for thinking this place was just as cold as the snowy scene outside. The younger stallion, frantically rubbing his hooves together near his own small candle, was particularly bothered by his, though one glance up at his employer made it clear to him that voicing such concerns would have most likely been dismissed. So, he merely concerned himself with his own papers, though the nipping at his hooves hardly made it a pleasant experience. However, the dour and solemn tone of this scene was starkly interrupted by the sudden sound of the front door opening. Entering the tiny building was a younger earth pony stallion, with a red scarf wrapped around his neck and a massive smile upon his face. Looking around, it wasn't long before he caught sight of Scrounger.

"Ah! Happy Hearth's Warming Eve, Uncle!"

The elderly stallion glanced up from his work to acknowledge his nephew's presence, though it was a very brief, as he soon carried on looking down at his numbers.

"Happy? Bah, humbug!"

The younger stallion looked somewhat taken aback by that declaration, but soon shrugged it off as he approached his relative. Scrounger meanwhile merely spoke in a tone of annoyance as he heard his nephew's approaching hoofsteps.

"What cause do you have to be happy? You're poor enough."

The younger stallion chuckled at that.

"Then what right do you have to be so dismal? You're rich enough."

Scrounger gave a dark look to his nephew before carrying on with his work. Letting out a sigh, the latter spoke up.

"Oh, don't be like that, Uncle. It's a good time of year. You should enjoy it."

Scrounger kept looking at his parchment as he answered back.

"So you keep telling me. Every year, I should point out. It becomes tiresome quite quickly, Prancer."

The nephew, Prancer, merely scoffed at that.

"Uncle, Hearth's Warming even is one of the most enjoyable times of the year! Just look out into the street and see how happy ponies are with the holiday a mere night's sleep away!"

It was here that Scrounger looked up, his expression no less disdainful than it had been since Prancer arrived.

"I do see them! That's all I ever see at this season, nephew. I would like nothing more than to stop seeing it!"

The old stallion's expression became, if possible, even more aggressive as he lifted himself out of his chair.

"If I could work my will, every fool who went about with "Happy Hearth's Warming Eve" upon their lips would be boiled in their own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through their hearts!"

As one might expect from a declaration like that, both Prancer and the other stallion, who had been quietly working this whole time, looked upon him with looks of shock, utterly aghast that anypony would say such a thing about a day like this upcoming holiday. Scrounger, seeing this look on both their faces, relaxed his aggression somewhat, though his face did not lose it's sour look as he caught sight of the other stallion.

"If you have something to say, Bob, then please, say it!"

The stallion, Bob, quickly got back to his wok, trying desperately to avoid his employer’s gaze. However, it was here that Prancer finally paid attention to the cowering stallion.

"Bob, is it?"

The stallion looked up nervously from his parchment before answering back.

"Um...yes, Sir?"

Prancer smiled at him before offering a hoof.

"A pleasure to meet you."

Bob looked upon the hoof with a look that made it clear that he was unused to being shown any such courtesy in this place, though given his employer that was not difficult to understand. Nevertheless, he reached out and shook it as offered, giving a warm smile in return.

"Thank you, Sir. Nice to meet you too."

Prancer tilted his head upon hearing that.

"That is not a Manehattan accent, is it?"

Bob shook his head.

"No, Sir. I'm from Ponyville."

Prancer looked quite taken aback by that.

"Ponyville?! My, that is quite a commute!"

He turned back towards his Uncle as the latter spoke up.

"The stallion cannot help where the work is, nephew. And speaking of work, I'd prefer it if you let him get back to his. I don't pay him to idly chat with my relatives."

Getting the message, Bob, quickly got back to his work, much to the annoyance of Prancer, who looked upon his uncle before letting out a sigh. It was clear to anypony that this old stallion wasn't going to cheer up, at least not by simply asking him to, as Prancer had done. Wracking his brain, the younger stallion tried to think of something to try and get his uncle to come out of his shell on this matter, and it was not long before the spark of an idea emerged in his mind, allowing him to smile once more.

"I say! Uncle! Why don't you come around for dinner with my wife and me this year?"

Scrounger looked up, looking both annoyed and surprised at the offer.

"Why in Equestria did you ever get married?"

Prancer looked upon him as if that was the most ridiculous thing anypony could ask. But, he knew he wasn't going to get out of this without some kind of answer, and so he did what he always did in situations such as this. He spoke from the heart.

"Why? Because I fell in love!"

At first, Scrounger looked upon his nephew with a look that made it obvious that he thought it was a fairly pathetic reason. But, as the moments passed by, that expression changed. Prancer wouldn't have thought it possible given what he knew of his Uncle, but that was unmistakeably a look of sadness upon his face. Perhaps even regret, though of what, Prancer could not say. Scrounger said nothing, merely getting back into his chair slowly. He could no longer look upon his nephew, at least not at the moment, and so carried on with his work. Prancer looked upon him, knowing that, perhaps, now was not the right time to speak to him. As such, he merely nodded at him one final time before making his way outside, acknowledging a goodbye wave from Bob with a smile as he did so.

Scrounger would have loved nothing more than for that to be the end of things, but it was only a few minutes after the departure of his relative that the door opened once again. Looking up, Scrounger saw that it was not his nephew come again, but a pair of mares. One was a mint-green unicorn and the other a cream-coloured earth pony. Both of them were dressed for winter and were shaking off what little snow they had accumulated outside before looking around. Once they saw Scrounger, they quickly guessed that he was in charge and began to approach him. It was the earth pony who spoke first.

"Good afternoon, Sir. Would you be Mr Scrounger or Mr Scrimper?"

Scrounger narrowed his eyes somewhat upon hearing that.

"Mr Scrimper is dead. Has been for seven years now."

Both mares realised that they'd just created a rather awkward situation, and so looked at each other nervously. Clearing her throat a little, the mare from before spoke up again.

"Ah, then you have my apologies, Mr Scrounger. My name is Bonbon, and this is my friend, Lyra. We are residents of Ponyville, here in Manehattan on a mission of charity."

Upon hearing that, Scrounger looked rather taken aback by that, as if it were unthinkable that anypony would approach him about such a matter. But he said nothing, instead listening to what the mares had to say.

"After the Changeling invasion of Canterlot, many children were left without their parents. My friend and I, as well as dozens of others, been doing all we can to try and raise enough to help them out. So we've been approaching several business owners, such as yourself, to help us in this."

Scrounger looked away from them briefly before speaking in a low tone.

"Do these colts and fillies not already have somewhere to take care of them?"

Bonbon nodded at that.

"Oh yes, there are several orphanages. But many of the biggest and best of them were also dealt a serious blow by the invasion, and have yet to be repaired."

The mares looked upon Scrounger, who was still looking away, before glancing at each other with no small degree of nervousness. There was just something about this stallion that made them feel ill at ease, though they could not really put into words what that was. Still, after composing herself, Bonbon spoke once more.

"So...how much might we put you down for?"

It was here that Scrounger finally looked at them again, though his expression was far from happy.

"Nothing."

Although taken aback by that, Bonbon nevertheless did not wish to jump to conclusions.

"Oh, you wish to remain anonymous?"

Scrounger's expression became even more angered.

"I wish to be left alone! I will not fund lowly children who have yet to benefit me or anypony else. You say there are orphanages? Then send them there."

Bonbon stood there, shocked at what she'd just heard, as evidenced by her hushed tone as she replied to that.

"Sir...those orphanages are in a terrible state! Not fit for anypony to live there. The children...some of them would rather die than be sent to condemned buildings such as that."

Scrounger's voice was a furious one as he gave his final word on the matter.

"If they'd rather die then they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population!"

Both mares stood aghast at the words they'd just heard from this stallion, staring in silence as he got back down in his seat and began to occupy himself yet again with his substantial paperwork. Lyra, rightly so, became enraged over what this guy had just said to them, and looked as if she was about to just attack him right there. Fortunately for all concerned, Bonbon held out a hoof and stopped her. Giving her friend a look, it was clear to Lyra that starting a fight wasn't going to help anypony, much to the latter's annoyance. Instead, Bonbon merely nodded at Mr Scrounger, not wishing to give him the benefit of a spoken farewell, and led her friend out of the building. Bob, who frankly had also been dismayed at his employer's words, nevertheless remained silent, though a quick glance made it clear to Scrounger that he was uncomfortable with what had just occurred.

So, the minutes rolled on by, and the two continued with their respective work. Eventually, it reached a point where the hourly chiming on the nearby clock began to sound, and Scrounger checked his own pocket-watch before narrowing his eyes at his employee.

"I assume you'll want tomorrow off, Mr Apples?"

Bob looked up from his work, a little surprised at that.

"Well...if it's not too much trouble, Sir."

Scrounger scoffed at that before getting up, prompting Bob to do the same before the former carried on speaking.

"Nopony else is working tomorrow, so I suppose I can't expect you to be here. Waste of time if you ask me. A whole twenty-four hours and nopony working."

Bob, knowing his employers views on the matter quite well at this point, chose instead to not voice his contrary thoughts. Instead, he simply took solace in the fact that Mr Scrounger was offering him what could well be considered a Hearth's Warming gift, though he'd never say so to his face. Watching, he saw Scrounger pick up a nearby set of keys and opened the front door, leading to Bob following him outside before the former closed it. After a brief moment of locking up, Scrounger looked upon his lone employee before speaking in a somewhat menacing tone.

"Just make sure to be here all the earlier the next day, understood?"

The younger stallion did not answer, but nodded enthusiastically, making it clear that he got the point. Scrounger grumbled a bit at that and began to walk away to his home, unaware that his employee was secretly smiling to himself at another day done. Scrounger, after walking just a few steps away from his building, muttered to himself.

"What a day. I could use a peaceful night's sleep after all this."